Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Call led by Lyndsey Oates, Division I Representative, University of Northern Colorado

1. All-Region Awards Update (Kelly Sheffield & Brad Wilson)

The DI HCC was sent a breakdown of the new regional awards alignment prior to the call. An updated version with changes discussed during the call will be sent to all DI head coach members. Kelly noted getting the changes in place was a lengthy process and there was no way to make everyone happy. The AVCA did reach out to other sports to research how their awards process worked and that was considered in developing the AVCA process. The following is a summary of the changes:

Changes will be made if conference affiliation changes.

Details for the new regional alignment

a. 10 total regions, instead of 8

b. All conferences of more than 6 teams are split into two regions

c. No region will feature more than 40 teams

d. Historically dominant regions will feature fewer teams

Why the change?

a. Volleyball is a growing sport with more deserving players across the country

b. Splitting the conferences and adding regions will better spread the elite talent

c. Having all coaches vote will increase participation in the selections of award winners and reduce the chance of bias.

d. Regional Committees are going to remain intact to help in this new process

The role of the All-American Committee will not change. The regional committees will remain in place as a checks-and-balances monitoring system. The AVCA felt this was important especially in the first year as it is impossible to anticipate all issues that might come up with the new process. The regional committees will have the power to make sure the correct selections are made.

There was some concern expressed about mid-majors schools receiving fewer nominations because the larger conferences are split and could potentially take more spots. It was noted that all coaches have an opportunity to vote so no single conference will dominate a region. A vote from a mid-major school will count just as much as a vote from a BCS school.

The awards nomination process will remain the same. The timeframe for nominations is still being considered and will be determined at a later date.

The voting process for coaches will take place online. Each coach will be sent a link for voting where they will choose players by position plus three extra spots.

The committee was asked to share the new regional alignment with their conference coaches. Questions or comments can be sent to Brad Wilson, AVCA Manager of Awards, at bradley.wilson@avca.org.

2. NCAA Legislation Update (Kathy DeBoer & TJ Meagher)

Kathy reported the NCAA has tabled the legislative proposals that were under consideration so no action has taken place at this time. It is unclear when the legislative committee will begin discussions again. Coaches will likely work under the same recruiting calendar for next year.

A Q&A document addressing the college coaches coaching club issue was distributed to all AVCA Division I members. TJ noted the NCAA was done addressing the issue as the Q&A document was their final response to questions. TJ emphasized that any other questions or clarifications must be addressed by the campus compliance office. A coach of an NCAA member school may report infractions to their campus compliance office for follow-up if the coach feels that action is appropriate. Changes to the rules would have to go through the normal NCAA legislative process.

3. Marketing Sub-Committee Update (Jaime Gordon)

The Marketing Sub-Committee had a call recently focused on finding ways to increase attendance at the championships. The following were the primary topics discussed:

Eliminating dead matches during the championships by playing only on home campuses. A dead match is where neither participating school is playing on their home court. The sub-committee is looking at different formats including the format used in the WNIT.

Requiring the host school to provide a ticket guarantee. This would provide an incentive for host schools to be more proactive in marketing and selling tickets.

Developing a host school watch list by the end of October. These schools would be given marketing tools to help prepare them for hosting the matches and selling tickets. The goal would be to eliminate the short turnaround time between team selections and the 1st and 2nd round matches so host schools would be more prepared.

A relationship has been formed with an advertising executive at an online firm to assist in providing tools and documents on how to best utilize online advertising.

Jamie encouraged coaches to contact him at j.gordon@moreheadstate.edu if they have any issues or questions they would like the sub-committee to discuss.

4. Recruiting Task Force Update (Matt Ginipro)

Matt reminded the committee to review the "College Coaches Coaching Club Q&A" document and send to their conference coaches to make sure everyone has received it. The RTF was prepared to begin working on recruiting calendar issues but with the NCAA tabling that legislation everything is on hold. Matt encouraged coaches to contact him with any issues they would like the RTF to address at ginipromj@appstate.edu.

5. AVCA Update (Jason Jones)

The nomination period for the AVCA Team Academic Award is open now through 5 p.m. ET on Friday, June 28th. To submit a nomination or learn more about the award criteria and guidelines please click here.

The AVCA is currently recruiting veteran volleyball coaches to serve as mentors for the AVCA Coaches Mentoring Program. Division I coaches are primary candidates to be mentors as many mentees request Division I coaches during the sign-up process. The time commitment can be as much or as little as you want as communication is scheduled between the mentor and mentee when both are available. Anyone interested in serving as a mentor should e-mail Kali Andress (kali.andress@avca.org) for more information.

AVCA Convention registration will open on August 14. The convention will be held December 18 - 22 in Seattle, Washington. Hotel information and registration pricing can be found by clicking here.

6. NCAA Reminders

The following reminders for women's volleyball came from the June 2013 edition of Championship News from the NCAA:

The roster link is also activated for you to input your 2013 women's volleyball roster. The deadline will be a bit later than for schedules, but must be updated prior to your first match in order for your stat files to load. Roster input instructions are available on this page: http://tracking.ncaa.org/t/26660898/794012054/54751923/9/